BOOK REVIEW: Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey

My rating: 3.3 out of 5

This is the first work of Howey's that I've read so far and is the combination of five previously serialized novellas. The storyline centres around a lonely and tormented chap who mans a remote NASA interstellar beacon station (essentially a lighthouse operator in outer space) which warns passing vessels of a vast asteroid field nearby. There's a lot of traffic moving about the galaxy at faster-than-light speeds in this far-future setting, human and alien, as well as a vast galactic war going on, so these beacons are highly necessary pieces of equipment.

Heavily character-driven, the simple and bare setting of the beacons brings the characters into sharp relief, and we get a really good look inside the main character's head. A combat veteran of the previously mentioned galactic war, this guy (whose name I don't recall learning) carried with him his fair share of demons and there are many tumultuous thoughts swirling around inside his head. Combine with this a number of unfortunate events to do with his beacon and life is not particularly plain-sailing for him. We're right there with him as he experiences a number of what appear to be psychotic episodes, but as the story progresses you get the sense that he may be a little more than he initially seems to be.

The story moves along well, and the plot is okay and kept me interested enough to keep going without effort. Howey's writing style is great and he uses some good gritty language and dialogue which I always enjoy. I'm naturally assuming that his other series (Wool and Shift, etc.) are similarly good given their popularity. However, I wasn't as entertained by this one as I like and hoped to be. That's not to say that it isn't a good book, it's just that I found myself early on wanting to move out of the main character's mind and into a bigger and more encompassing story. Maybe that's coming? Perhaps Howey has further plans for this setting, and this would most definitely be a good thing.

Overall I think it's an average read, and probably enough to get me to explore some of the author's other works. Give it a crack if you have some spare space in your reading schedule because it is easy going and well written enough to earn a look. I just wanted a little more.

3/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

3/5 for entertainment

= 3.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman

My rating: 4.3 out of 5

Scientology intrigues me, not that I particularly like to admit it sometimes. Like a number other groups labeled as cults or religious aberrations, their often negative publicity arouses my distrustful yet inquisitive curiosity and I’m suddenly keen to find out why this movement attracts so much flak. Of course (by virtue of being an avid science fiction fan) I'm well aware of L. Ron Hubbard and where he sits on the science fiction landscape, and this made me doubly curious to see what exactly it was that he came up with. Why did his ideas spawn this large esoteric and now wealthy global organization with seemingly so much influence? How could it turn him into such a god-like figure, with his image and name effectively becoming idols? Inside Scientology sounded like it might begin to answer these questions and be an ideal starting point for a person like me, so when the opportunity to pick it up came along I leaped at the chance. A little background checking reveals that Janet Reitman is a well-known journalist in the entertainment field and her credentials appear solid. She's worked for top publications like Rolling Stone magazine, and her skills shine through in this good piece of investigative writing. She’s connected well enough to gain access to both current and active Scientology members as well as to many high profile ex-members and the result is a very interesting read.

Dianetics - 1st Edition 1950

L. Ron Hubbard

The history of L. Ron Hubbard and his philosophies has been widely chronicled in many books previously but this book offers a good and fairly current overview (published 2011) of the key points. Divided into four main parts, this book begins with a decent study of Hubbard’s early life and work, the establishment of his theories of self-help mental health and his ideas about how to treat sicknesses that exist in people. As the pages turn, more is revealed about the initial rise and fall of his invention Dianetics followed by its rebirth and evolution to become the Scientology movement, which was later declared a bonafide religion (in the eyes of the law anyway) as The Church Of Scientology. I was particularly fascinated with the story of how Hubbard and his band of followers arranged themselves into an actual sea-going “navy” complete with uniforms and ships, taking their small fleet to various ports around the place with the goal of spreading their faith and ideals. This, along with Hubbard’s short and unusual career in the U.S. Navy during World War Two, explains the nautical themes that often pop up in Scientology, including the name of their elite division called The Sea Organisation (or Sea Org) which I had previously found slightly odd. As things move on and the Church grows, the transformation to a mega-corporation is quite swift and rather incredible. After the death of Hubbard in 1986 the Church takes on a number of new tactics, not least of these is the concerted recruitment and use of celebrities who can utilize their profile and status to spread the Scientology word. This is possibly the most well-known aspect of Scientology for many of us, and this book presents an insightful view of the involvement of people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Also, we read about some key high profile events that occurred in and around Scientology as well as the life of it’s powerful and rather mysterious current leader David Miscavige, a man who seems to me to have backed himself into a very tight corner and is fighting said corner quite savagely.

Some years ago I’d read about the story of Xenu that Hubbard had come up with but I had no idea that Scientologists actually believe it to be the history of mankind and the main reasons for our woes, our mental health (or lack of) in particular. Without delving into the details and my own views of Scientology (and not meaning to trash their charitable works) it certainly does appear that, given the evidence presented, the movement was created at its core to make money above other things, and this book presents very well the methods and tactics which they employed to achieve this. Of the people that the author interviews closely, she seems to have struck pay dirt because the insights that they give are revealing. In fact, Reitman claims that “not a single one of these people had ever spoken publicly prior to my interviewing them” and “all references to these people, their stories, and their quoted words come from my own interviews and conversations with them.” Her writing style is very good (as one would expect), easy to read with no wasted words just filling up space, all of it telling the reader interesting things cohesive with the overall subject.

Scientology logo

All in all, it’s a well-packaged essay about Hubbard and Scientology that certainly answered many of the questions that I had. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from reading this book it’s this: L. Ron Hubbard had an impressive mind, imagination by the ship-load and a fair chunk of charisma which all worked together to create something rather weird yet strangely successful. While I still cannot fathom just how Scientology has become what it has, Inside Scientology does present very well the reasons why the people within the movement believe what they do and their motivations to spread their faith. The vehicle of that faith, The Church Of Scientology, sounds very much as though it has some issues, severe issues which cause not a little grief that we just don’t need in this world. Okay, they’re not the only movement like this and not even in the same playing field as the worst but, still, are they doing more good than bad around the place? I’m not so sure that they are, and you’ll be able to take a more considered position yourself if you read this book. It's definitely a recommended read for those with an interest in such things.

4/5 for theme

5/5 for delivery

4/5 for education

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW [Reblog]: Salvage by Eric Brown

A couple of days ago I was asked by a friend for some advice on what sci-fi book they should pick up next. I asked them what they'd like to read and the answer was "something entertaining and interesting yet not too long or involved." Salvage was one of the first books to pop into my head, and the more we discussed what it is that they like, became more and more a match. I'm happy to report that they are loving it so far, just as I thought they would.

Anyway, this prompted me to reblog a short review which I did a few years back:

***** *** *******

Salvage by Eric Brown

My rating: 4.7 out of 5

Synopsis:

When Salvageman Ed saves Ella Rodriguez from spider-drones on the pleasure planet of Sinclair’s Landfall, he has no idea what he’s letting himself in for. Ella is not at all what she seems, as he’s soon about to find out.

What follows, as the spider-drones and the Hayakawa Organisation chase Ed, Ella and engineer Karrie light-years across space, is a fast-paced adventure with Ed learning more about Ella – and about himself – than he ever expected.

The Salvageman Ed series of linked stories – four of which appear here for the first time – combine action, humour and pathos, from the master of character-based adventure science fiction.

----- --- -------

This is the first short story collection of Brown's that I've read. It's a group of stories that are all linked together by the characters and the general 'journey' of the stories, similar to Kethani which is another collection of his stories that blend together into a fine novel length book.

Salvage reads great and has a really fun 'pulp sci-fi' feel going on that I totally loved. At times I was reminded almost of some old Perry Rhodan stories that I've read in years gone by but with a little more finesse. There are all the elements there for great stories - FTL starships, robots, AI, aliens, weird and wonderful planets and species. The lot.

The use of words to describe people, places and things is absolutely fantastic and made me chuckle at times. I used the dictionary feature on my ebook reader a number of times for some of the more impressive words. Check out a couple of examples:

“They left the prison of the flesh, which by any definition is finite, and became immortal. They reside now in a realm of their own devising, free of the corruption of the physical, a hundred million of them in a virtual universe tied in a way I can barely comprehend to the nano-strings that bind the quantum universe. Their new home might very well last forever.”

and just for a giggle:

The creature said, raising itself on its multiple limbs, “I thank you for your hospitality, my friends, and now I must repair to my berth and void the excess of foodstuffs partaken. Good night to you.”

I love this stuff, right good yarns with heaps of well-proven sci-fi tropes and ideas all done in a fun and hugely entertaining way. Overall a great little book that, once again, confirms Eric Brown as one of my all-time favourite authors. I'd like him to do more work like this. Highly recommended.

4/5 for concept
5/5 for delivery
5/5 for entertainment
= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon) 
Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: The Ion Raider by Ian Whates

The Ion Raider (The Dark Angels #2) by Ian Whates

My rating: 4.3 out of 5

Following up the very entertaining Pelquin's Comet [my review HERE], this second book of an obviously ongoing series strikes pretty much the same chord, being a fast-moving short novel with many of the hallmarks of solid space opera. The story follows on chronologically from Comet and I'd say that you really need to have read that first to get the full grasp of the plot here. It continues to build the story, introducing more key players while also revealing more tantalizing facts and hints about the Dark Angels as well as the ancient and mysterious Elder aliens and their caches of artefacts scattered across the galaxy.

We have some of the same central characters who we met in Comet, including Corbin Drake who is a respected representative and field operative for a large bank, an identity he has established over the course many years. As we learned in Comet, there is far more to Drake's past that even he initially realises. He is again tasked by his boss to assess an Elder artefact cache, but this time his presence has been specifically requested by someone from his dark past, a fact which makes him and his employers just a little suspicious. Alongside this, a number of ex-Dark Angel members are being assassinated and a couple of former Angels attempt to make contact with their ex-colleagues in an attempt to prevent their deaths and to discover the reason why they're being hunted. One of these we met in Comet, Leesa, who is also trying to distance herself from her past and we learn and see more of Leesa's special "talents" as she and her friends regroup, along with reuniting with their ship the Ion Raider. The team of former Dark Angels struggles because not all are keen to revisit their old way of life, but it is still clear that somebody wants the Angels dealt with once and for all. The book ends rather suddenly, not quite a cliff-hanger but still very abrupt and is obviously going to be continued in book three [of which there's no news of yet...]. I hope it comes quickly because the plot is really starting to thicken up and there is still so many intriguing things to be revealed. All very tantalizing stuff.

The more I read of Whates' work the more I like it, and his style is similar to some others I could mention, infused with a cool "pulp" style which makes it so entertaining. Reading this really is a whole lot of fun and it's a good flowing story with stacks of action, cool ideas and interesting characters along with a plot that keeps you thinking right up to the [sudden] end. It really is exactly like reading the first book, so if you liked that then you're going to get just as much out of this one.

In short, this book [and series] epitomises the reasons why I read this sort of stuff, being great entertainment and an effective escape from the "real world". If you haven't read Pelquin's Comet yet, do so immediately and then rip into this one soon after, you'll be left satisfied [and hanging out for book three] just like I have been. I'd put money on it. Enjoy.

4/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon)
Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

The Great Book Format Debate - Print vs. Digital

Whenever I tell people that I read a lot and review books, they will often bring up the question of paper books versus ebooks. They'll ask me which I prefer and why. Many people have written on this topic before but it still frequently comes up in conversation among readers.

What I love are words that contain good stories and meaningful information, whether it's printed on paper or made up of e-ink capsules over a white background is mostly irrelevant to me. It's the words that I'm there for. However, it's still an issue that many readers appear to battle over.

I dabble with both formats but confess that I am reading mostly ebooks these days. The reasons for this are purely pragmatic, of which portability, convenience and ease of access are top of the list. I love being able to have that new novel from a favourite author on the spot, eliminating the need to visit some annoying shopping mall (or wait for it to arrive via mail) and pay a sizable chunk of money for the print book. Some of the books that I read are quite hefty in paper form and digital obviously eliminates this problem. My ebook reader is light and easy to hold whether I'm standing, sitting or reclining [I'm an avid librocubicularist] and takes up a fraction of the space in my bag.

I use ebook management software on my computer and keep my collection backed up. Because of this, my physical bookshelf is growing very slowly as of late. Sure, there are the tangible facets of a "real" book like the weight of it, the feel of the cover and the smell of the paper, etc. I admit to being fond of these things, and I even recently re-read my old hardcover copy of The War of the Worlds in an attempt to relive the experience from many years ago. I enjoyed it too. But it was the story that I mainly focused on, I didn't really pay much attention to the medium at all.

These days my library is huge yet takes up hardly any space.

As a thumbs down for modern devices, research has shown that reading a tablet before bed can actually lead to increased symptoms of insomnia (to clarify, that's a device with a back-lit LCD screen, e-ink devices do not cause this problem). Reading a physical printed book is apparently the key. A recent study has shown that people who read on a "Kindle" were significantly worse at remembering what they read compared to those who read printed text. It was concluded that “the haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does.” [It's a safe assumption that this finding applies not only to Amazon's iconic Kindle but also other proprietary e-readers as well.] I buy print books for my kids who like to read, the robustness of a chunky book being of obvious value here. But already my 9-year-old son is expressing interest in an ebook reader, so he'll soon be discovering the pros and cons for himself. [It may also teach him the benefit of picking things up of the floor...]

As far as sales go, I've found that reliable figures are a bit elusive but most sources are showing ebooks to be consistently increasing in sales and forecast to overhaul print (which has seen a corresponding reduction in sales). But it hasn't been a fast process, and I was one of those who predicted the rapid demise of print media once mobile devices became so widespread. I was a little off-target because paper has hung in there admirably. It'll be interesting to see if the lines do actually cross over and how much they might diverge the other way.

This graph is for US sales, but from what I’ve seen (I’m in New Zealand) I’d wager that this trend is generally consistent worldwide.

Returning to the personal preferences of readers, the following points seem to sum up the feelings of most people:

Prefer ebooks:

Storage – hundreds, even thousands, of books within one device

Ease of purchase – buying an ebook is just a click away

Portability – light, on hand, easy to carry around

Price – usually less than a print book [although I've seen the gap close up alarmingly in recent years]

Purchasing options – many different online sources

Freedom - the ability to share titles with others easily and quickly [the legalities aside]

Prefer print books:

Tangibility – an actual physical item for the money

Accomplishment – the mass of the book moves from the right side to the left, visual progress

Libraries – people like the vibe of a library with books to browse and choose

Aroma – the smell of ink on paper [rather nice I admit]

Less restriction - no DRM (Digital Rights Management) and no battery issues

I can relate to some extent with every one of those points and this leads me to the obvious conclusion, that there is a solid place for both. In today's world, it's a lot more about convenience and accessibility meaning ebooks fit with modern "must have it now" attitudes. But, print books are still moving off the shelves okay, even among younger readers, so it looks as if the old-school perceptions still mean something within the same society.

To conclude, I'll say that I hope that print and digital will continue to coexist successfully and I don't see any reasons why they shouldn't. I can see many reasons why the demise of print would be undesirable, the possible disappearance of community libraries not least of these. But nor is the rise of electronic media unwelcome with less paper used, ie. a smaller carbon footprint and that sort of thing. In my mind the format is largely a moot point, what matters most to me is that there are books being written, published and read. After all, it's about the words, the wonderful words with which we feed our minds [for better or worse].

"In union there is strength." -- Aesop

BOOK REVIEW: All These Worlds [Bobiverse #3] by Dennis E. Taylor

All These Worlds [Bobiverse #3] by Dennis E. Taylor

My rating: 4.3 out of 5

It was about time I got around to finishing this fine series from Dennis E. Taylor, a relative newcomer to the sci-fi scene and hopefully will be a long-term stayer. After reading this series I know one thing for sure: I have a new addition to my “intro to sci-fi” book list. These are the books that I choose from to recommend to someone new to the genre and looking for a good read and that will hopefully keep them interested in science fiction. This series oozes humour, humanity and scientific plausibility which makes the future depicted in the story one that I could see actually transpiring. This final book of the trilogy continued in the same enjoyable fashion as the previous ones (see my reviews HERE and HERE) and finished in a most satisfactory way without closing the door for future stories in this setting.

By now, there are a number of human colonies seeded around the galaxy and also a couple of alien species who are being helped along in various ways by the “Bobs”, the ever-growing number of sentient AI starships roaming about the place trying to help however and wherever they can. They’ve still got their work cut out for them in the shape of the rogue Brazilian AI ship Medeiros and his fleets, as well as a destructive roaming alien species, dubbed the "Others”, inflicting havoc wherever they go. Now it looks very much like the Others have set their sights squarely on Earth which is, in itself, a bit of a wasteland finally screwed over by our own species. Because of this, the Bobs and the remaining people on Earth are quite motivated to get their backsides off-planet and relocate to a more suitable and safer location far away. With a climactic battle for Earth against the Others rapidly approaching, if the human species is going to have any real chance of survival, the Bobs must come up with a plan to fight off the Others and/or get the remaining millions off Earth before the proverbial hits the proverbial.

Parallel to this are the continuing stories of some Bobs who have decided to interact with the physical world around them by entering android bodies. This includes “Original Bob” [who was the first human-derived AI of the whole story] and his interactions with the sentient furry creatures on Delta Eridani as well as Howard [a descendant clone of Bob] who has built some strong relationships with flesh and blood humans on the colony world Vulcan. Also, the Bobs have rescued the “Pavs” after their world was raped and left barren by the Others and there is a concerted effort to find the Pav remnant a new place to live. These stories show that the AI’s have retained a large amount of their humanity and you’d argue that they’re still “people” even though their minds manifest via machines. I guess that’s the general profound theme of this series, that artificial intelligence could possibly still contain a soul or essence of some description.

The writing style is very good, flowing at a fairly steady pace throughout and the action is nicely done, absorbing without being too much. Each chapter is told from the first-person viewpoint of one of the Bobs and, as I found with the previous books, can be a tad confusing if you don’t take careful note at the beginning of each chapter who/where/when the events are about. If you keep track of where you are in the story it’ll fall into place superbly.

Because of the philosophical ideas and much of the other scientific and technological stuff in the story, I’d place these books firmly at the hard sci-fi end of the scale. But they’d have to be some of the most accessible hard sci-fi for a general audience in recent times [that I’ve seen] and part of the reason why I rate them as great introductory science fiction books for a wide range of readers. Again, I am particularly reminded of the work of John Scalzi and his witty style, both authors’ books are very easy to read and get immersed in. For these reasons, the Bobiverse series is one of the most memorable in recent years and hopefully just the beginning of a long line of work from Dennis E. Taylor.

4/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the print & ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the print book HERE (Book Depository UK)

BOOK REVIEW: Salvation (Salvation Sequence #1) by Peter F. Hamilton

Salvation (Salvation Sequence #1) by Peter F. Hamilton

My rating: 5 out of 5Like so many Peter F. Hamilton [PFH] readers, this has been my most anticipated release of 2018, so much so that I tried a number of channels to get hold of an advance reader copy. But, alas, my efforts were to no avail and I had to wait until the official release like most others. Was it worth the wait? My oath it was!

As a definite space opera and PFH fan, I was bound to sink my teeth into this one and most likely enjoy it. But, there's no undue bias here when I say that this book is simply superb. There's no other way to describe it and this new standalone series from PFH certainly looks like it's going to be another epic. The style in which it's written is very good, and typically PFH, and he didn't seem to get as bogged down in minutiae this time [as I feel much of his earlier work is affected]. All of the action and sub-stories are firmly part of the greater storyline, which is only just beginning to take shape in this book. The format is excellent, with numerous flashbacks and flashforwards from a central narrative, all of which link together and give you a hazy yet tantalizingly intriguing picture of where the story appears to be headed. It finished well and I am very excited to see where the series goes, this book being a good introduction to the universe and players before the story slips into a higher gear. Now tell me that doesn’t sound exciting.

To read, it felt a lot like a short story collection where the individual stories link together to form the framework of a larger tale, and this is pretty much what it is, each “chapter” giving a portion of the background, mostly about the key characters but also about the places and things within this new universe. As per usual, PFH’s world-building is second to none [ie. awesomely cool] and I found myself re-reading more than once some of his descriptions of locations and technology so that I could better grasp the wonder of it. Another hallmark of Hamilton’s fiction which is again present are lots of high-tech future cops and robbers and there’s no shortage of these in Salvation, with most of the central characters being some sort of police officer, security specialist, mercenary or criminal. The future flashforward sections are excellent, slightly reminiscent of other child or youth sci-fi soldier stories that you may have read, the characters struggling to come to grips with the knowledge that the future existence of mankind rests upon their shoulders. Overall, you can quite clearly how the different timelines relate to each other and how things might transpire.

Now we get to the part where I resist going into a breakdown of the story which would only add potential spoilers, but there are a number of excellent professional reviews online [like HERE and HERE]. What I can say that it is supremely entertaining and filled to the brim with good solid sci-fi action and intrigue. It’s space opera as it should be, a story painted on a canvas of galactic scale with an abundance of massive awesome stuff contained therein. There are interesting alien life-forms, interesting alien agendas and interesting alien technology, which is totally what you’d expect from PFH. Anybody who enjoys good sci-fi [and galaxy-spanning space opera in particular] will just devour this and love every moment of doing so. It’s a must for any PFH fan and also a perfectly suitable starting point for any readers new to his work. Hamilton has been shortening his novels a little in recent years and his work is much the better for it in my humble opinion, meaning that his work is probably that much more accessible for a mainstream audience. The earlier Night’s Dawn Trilogy, Commonwealth Saga and Void Trilogy books, while truly excellent books, were seen as a bit daunting by some readers. Such were my observations anyway. There are no such worries with this one, however, and it should be a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read for a lot of people. Get into it.

5/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 5 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository UK)

BOOK REVIEW: Thrawn: Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2) by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn: Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2) by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 3.3 out of 5

Carrying on with this new canon series penned by sci-fi heavyweight Timothy Zahn, Thrawn: Alliances continues painting on the revised Star Wars canvas, feeling both familiar and completely new at the same time. There are a number of familiar characters [including the excellent and ever-present R2-D2] and places as well as many that we've not come across before. The storyline idea is familiar enough yet it is drifting gently and tangentially away from the traditional Expanded Universe ideas.

General Anakin Skywalker &
Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo

The story of Admiral Thrawn's rise to power under the close observation of Emperor Palpatine is well covered in Thrawn [see my review HERE], and this book begins to flesh out the larger story of Thrawn's involvement with the Empire and why Palpatine finds him so interesting and useful. It is actually two completely separate but firmly linked stories in a then-and-now style, the book switching back and forth between these two timelines the whole way through. The "now" part is set during the height of the Empire when Emperor Palpatine senses a disturbance in the Force from the Unkown Regions and sends Thrawn and Darth Vader [who have a history of opposing each other in Imperial politics] off together in Thrawn's flagship Star Destroyer to discover the source of the disturbance. The "then" is set just after the Clone Wars and tells of how Thrawn [then a Commander in the Chiss Ascendancy military] and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker meet for the first time on a remote planet. They are on the trail of Senator Padmé Amidala who has gone chasing a lead relating to a secret Separatist rebel operation. It is this event that Thrawn himself refers to in book one when being questioned by the Emperor after his capture, he relays that he had met and fought with Jedi Skywalker and learned of the existence of the Galactic Republic [the precursor to the Empire]. He was told that Skywalker is dead, but Thrawn soon deduces that this may not be entirely true. Thrawn is a very intelligent and observant person and he has a fair idea of what's going on, whether it's Anakin and Padme's secret relationship [in the "then" story] or the true past identity of Darth Vader [in the "now" story] but keeps his cards close to his chest as he works the situation to his advantage. His love of art and culture often enables him to look at a scenario and make judgements that are surprisingly accurate. He's fast becoming one of my top favourite Star Wars characters.

Senator Padmé Amidala

The writing style is good and flows well, typical of an author of Zahn's pedigree, but the flavor of it came across as a little young adult to me, as if it has been purposely aimed at a younger reader. It felt more like a teen novel and would be enjoyed greatly by this segment I'd say. Zahn does a very good job of portraying Anakin's rash impetuousness and it was interesting to compare this to the similar traits in Darth Vader in the later storyline. This is obviously one of the things which help Thrawn deduce the truth, although unconfirmed at this stage of the game. To go much further into a recap of the story from what the synopsis already reveals would introduce spoilers, so I'll stop by saying that the storylines themselves are interesting enough and are very action-packed.

Like with Thrawn, I reckon the world-building is a tad modest but, again, I believe that the assumption has been made that the reader will already be familiar with the appearance of such things as a TIE fighter or a Stormtrooper, for example. I did find myself drifting a little at times and losing concentration, especially during some rather lengthy action and battle scenes and it was only when a particularly interesting new piece of information came along that I was snapped back to attention. Thankfully there are enough of these bits to keep me on the hook for the duration. I don't know what it is, but long action sequences have always been a bit of a bore for me, and this book [unfortuantely] has a few too many of them for my liking, some of the action seems quite trivial within the grand scheme. This is the book's weakest point in my view but, if you like lots of action, then you'll probably love it and think I'm an idiot [you won't be the first...].

One of the most interesting parts is a fresh new approach to a traditional Expanded Universe [now Star Wars: Legends] idea of invaders from outside the galaxy [ie. the Yuuzhan Vong] and I'll wager that this is going play a large part in the story arc moving ahead. Quite exciting, this is. I'm still not fully settled on how I feel about the tangential shift and the new direction that Star Wars is taking, and this book [and the latest Disney-era movies] are clearly designed more for a new audience without a lot of prior experience with the traditional Star Wars plots. I think that as time progresses the new canon will become the norm and all will be in balance once more. In the meantime, there is obviously more to come with this story arc [word on the street is that Zahn has been contracted for a third novel in the series] which I am looking forward to, especially finding out more about these potential invaders from the Unknown Regions.

In summary, it's an okay book but I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the first book of the series. It's clear that the planning people are using these new books to build the foundation for a much larger Star Wars story from which to branch out into other mediums [ie. movies and TV] and, for that reason, this book and series are necessary reads for those who wish to stay abreast of the new canon themes. A recommended read for the fan but not all that gripping in a general sense.

4/5 for concept

3/5 for delivery

3/5 for entertainment

= 3.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: Outpost (Donovan Trilogy #1) by W. Michael Gear

Outpost (Donovan Trilogy #1) by W. Michael Gear
My rating: 4.7 out of 5

I've been seeing this title [the first of a planned trilogy] pop up on a few book blogs that I keep an eye on, the synopsis immediately catching my attention, sounding like an interesting far-flung space colony story set on a planet with weird and wonderful ecology which is resisting human attempts to plunder resources from their home. The colony is on the planet Donovan which is thirty light-years away and the colonization and mining operations are being overseen by a ruthless profit-driven corporation based back in our Solar System. The strange thing is that the last half-dozen Corporation ships that have attempted to make the journey to Donovan have all disappeared, leaving the colonists stranded and left to their own devices. That is until the ship Turalon, which carries a high-level member of The Corporation board, finally makes orbit. It's crew prepares to head planetside to find out what's been going on over the last few years.

Down on Donovan they discover a failed colony with the government overthrown, the few colonists who are left having gone rather feral. This is quite understandable because the planet has presented a number of challenges, mostly the strange and often deadly flora and fauna which is constantly trying to kill them. When The Corporation, along with a squad of Marines, attempts to re-establish their power they are in for a shock because the Donovan colonists have reorganized themselves into a dysfunctional yet effective group who are [only just] surviving despite what the planet throws at them. Toss into the mix a few characters who have agendas of their own and you get a really engaging and interesting plot. The story follows the political and physical tussle in superb detail, with stacks of action and great dialogue all wrapped up some very good world-building. The creatures on the planet are simply awesome, especially the huge almost dragon-like quetzals, nemesis of the colonists and who I expect are going to play a much larger role in the ongoing story. The cover is slightly misleading in that the structure of human bones pictured [while definitely present in the story] is not really a major plot element in an overall sense. But, maybe I'm wrong? Or have I missed a crucial clue somewhere along the way? I thought that the cover art was not the best choice as an indicator of the story content.

As I read through, I was often reminded of the movie Avatar which has a similar vibe, the planet and what it holds being more than initially meets the eye, and also the struggle against a huge corporate power. The world building in this book is just as good and I often found my mind's eye thinking on the same scale, reminded of the fantastic imagery of the movie. Think of this as a good thing, unless you thought that Avatar was rubbish, which will mean that you might find some aspects of this book tiresome. Not me though, I loved it and I'm really looking forward to book two of this Donovan Trilogy called Abandoned which is due for publication in November 2018. Overall this sci-fi adventure is great entertainment which ticked all of the boxes for me in what I look for in a novel these days.

4/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: From a Certain Point of View [Star Wars]

From a Certain Point of View [Star Wars] by Various Authors

My rating: 4.3 out of 5

Okay, how about a fresh new anthology of forty short stories telling the Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope story from a multitude of different perspectives, written by some of the biggest names in contemporary sci-fi literature? Yep, bring it to me! The idea of this simply demanded that I give it a solid look. Also, it is written to sit within the new Disney canon structure which is another reason why I wanted to give it a try, that is to see how the new ideas people treated this grass-roots Star Wars plot (which kicked off one of the biggest entertainment franchises of all time) and how it stacked up against the traditional story and ideas that I grew up with. So how does it rate? Quite okay as it turns out.

The story is a well-known one but, if you'll indulge me, let's recap briefly [deep breath...]: A couple of droids, one of which [R2D2] belongs to a beautiful young princess and Rebel leader [Leia Organa] contains the stolen plans (recently portrayed in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) to an Imperial space station and super-weapon [the Death Star]. The droids are pursued across space and the arid planet Tatooine by thousands of shiny white Stormtroopers and a shiny black Sith Lord [Darth Vader] to stop the plans getting into the hands of the Rebel forces. Whilst on Tatooine they team up with an old Jedi Knight [Obi-Wan Kenobi] (who is watching and protecting a young boy [Luke Skywalker] from a distance) and a couple of smugglers [Han Solo and Chewbacca] who have a very fast freighter vessel [the Millenium Falcon] which can get the droid and the stolen plans past the Imperial blockades to the secret Rebel base [on Yavin 4]. The Death Star plans contain details of a certain vulnerability which the Rebels hope to exploit and destroy it before it can be moved into position to destroy the Rebel base in a gigantic race against time. Numerous scenes are told from the point of view of often minor [however, not all are "minor",  i.e. Obi-Wan, Yoda and Boba Fett] characters who give us a refreshing new view of the events. Even from these new perspectives, the story is satisfying and the climax is fantastic.

Dianoga

Mon Mothma

There's no denying that the stories themselves are of great quality, written by some of the best of the genre; authors like Ken Liu, Chuck Wendig, Pablo Hidalgo and Paul S Kemp [and others] require no introduction to most and produce some top work in these pages. There are only a few exceptions at either end of the scale, there are two pieces that I didn't care for at all, but the vast majority are real beauties. It's difficult to nail down particular favorites, but two that did stand out for me included one told from the point of view of a sentient force-sensitive water creature called a dianoga which is what Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie encounter in the watery trash chamber on the Death Star, while the other tells of [Rebel leader] Mon Mothma's secret contingency plans in the event of a Rebel defeat if that were to happen. These were fascinating insights. Like I said, apart from a couple, all are great reads.

I'm very glad that I picked this one up because it was a real treat to read. From what I've now read a few titles produced from the new Disney/Lucasfilm/Del Rey combination and have been quite impressed with the quality of the work. While I'm still not totally confident in the overall story direction going forward compared to the traditional [now called "Legends"] ideas, the literature which I've seen so far seems to be tracking along nicely. This compilation sat well with me and I would bet that most Star Wars fans will enjoy these fresh insights into the established A New Hope story. A highly recommended read for anyone into the Star Wars saga, even if they've only got a basic understanding of the overall storyline. Now, if the brains trust who oversee this whole project could just lift their game a little when it comes to the new movies, that would be good.

4/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: The Fall Of Tartarus by Eric Brown

The Fall Of Tartarus by Eric Brown

My rating: 5 out of 5

Somewhere within every review that I write of Eric Brown's work usually appears a statement that he has [yet again] failed to disappoint me and this collection of eight interlinked short works is yet another superb example of this. This book showcases an author who writes consistently good science fiction and the stories overflow with so many of the ingredients which make up supremely entertaining yarns. The main character is the planet Tartarus whose sun is going nova (a cataclysmic eruption and subsequent decline of a star) and each story is about characters who are either live on the planet or are returning for various reasons. The stories are arranged chronologically, with each one set closer to the impending supernova, from a couple of hundred years prior right up until the supernova engulfs Tartarus and those left there. Each story was originally published in sci-fi magazines between 1995 and 2000 and one of the stories, the novella Hunting The Slarque, won the British Science Fiction Association’s best short story award in 2000, a fact which doesn't surprise me one little bit.

The first story Destiny on Tartarus tells of a young man who travels to Tartarus to find out the fate of his father and is a fantastic journey across the planet where we see some truly amazing sights. This story culminates in a very dangerous boat race in the planet's fiercest waters and this is where our main character learns what he came to the planet to discover. A hugely fun yarn that was a pure joy to read.

Next is A Prayer for the Dead which is another retrospective beauty where the main character revisits his childhood home on Tartarus and reminisces about his childhood and the events that occurred over one particular period. Superb characterization and an interesting ending really make this one what it is.

The Eschatarium at Lyssia tells the story of an artist who lost his wife on Tartarus and is asked by a messenger from the planet claiming to have been sent by his [living] wife who wishes to see him again. Disbelieving, he still goes back to the planet and when he revisits an ancient structure created millions of years ago by a mysterious alien race, he finds the answer to this questions and makes some startling discoveries. Reasonably short, it gives us more good characters and a personal and emotional story.

In The Ultimate Sacrifice, we follow a reporter who goes to Tartarus to find her lost brother or to find out the fate he has suffered. She's lead to the Church of the Ultimate Sacrifice where adherents practice a form of mortification in an attempt to appease the God of the supernova. It reveals more details of religion on Tartarus and is very interesting with a bittersweet ending.

The People of the Nova tells a story of an official on Tartarus who is trying to find a native tribal people in order to evacuate them before to the supernova. This story that looks at the rights and wrongs of forcing people to abandon their home planet and has plenty of feeling and emotion mixed in.

Next up, Vulpheous is another excellent story with a bittersweet finish. The main player here is hunting to kill the last existing member of a rare sea-elephant-like species called the Vulpheous. He believes that the animal's liver may hold the key to cure to many currently incurable diseases. He meets a native girl who has also trekked to the Vulpheous in order to find a different cure for herself, one which requires the animal to be alive. Conflicting emotions and dilemmas ensue, as you can imagine.

Hunting the Slarque tells the fascinating story a man who was a victim of an attack on Tartarus (he was actually killed) by what is believed to be a Slarque, a devolved intelligent species thought by many to be extinct. His remains were placed in stasis which then underwent a "regeneration" procedure funded by a wealthy businessman in return for assistance in capturing a Slarque for his zoo. This has a really interesting finish where the story elements come together really nicely.

Finally, Dark Calvary reintroduces the Church of the Ultimate Sacrifice and also reveals more details of the Slarque and the relationship between these two. The ending is superb and is a fitting finale to both this story collection and the planet of Tartarus itself.

In summary, this compilation shows that Eric Brown can't write bad stories, well I'm yet to read one. I'm left feeling satisfied and complete from reading these stories, each one fitting within Brown's tried-and-true formula which has amazing locations and events along with the character themes of loss, love, sacrifice and redemption. These ingredients really make the stories shine, just like just about every other piece of Eric Brown's work that I've read so far. I couldn't recommend this one any higher.

5/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 5 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Amazon UK)

BOOK REVIEW: Project 77 by Martin Deschambault & Jeffrey Campbell

Project 77 is a collaboration between extremely talented professional artist Martin Deschambault and the publishing division of ArtStation, a showcase platform for games, film, media and entertainment artists. The quality of the artwork is second to none, to say the very least, the pieces merging together superbly giving the reader a tantalizing glimpse into a supremely fascinating universe. It's a sci-fi space opera displayed in great artistic detail and interlinked by nine interesting [very] short stories from Jeffrey Campbell. Each of the 300 - 400 word short stories give further details of some of the artworks which depict a certain story facet, whether it be a place, an event or one of the characters. I'm left quite impressed by the experience of being immersed in so many awesome pictures. The potential of the story framework is enormous and it will be interesting to see how far this project goes.

It has a theme which is very dystopian in style, set in the far future where monstrous corporations are at war with one another, the bounty being the vast resources of the galaxy. These organizations have assembled massive armies and fleets of spaceships to procure those resources and ensure that their investments are kept secure. Because of this, entire civilisations are traded and cultures are erased at the stroke of a pen, their losses being nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Within this society crime is rife, lubricating the gears of commerce with smugglers, assassins, pirates, bounty hunters and saboteurs lining up to cash in on the endless corporate warfare. It's a bleak society seemingly devoid of any hope for the average man, yet the stories hint at something about to change, a faint spark of faith and expectation which may ignite the fire of rebellion against the corporations. Each of the pieces, whether art or story fragment, show only a very small part of the story yet by the time I reached the end of the book I was positively brimming with enthusiasm for the concept. We are shown amazing future cities, technology and machines, alien worlds and creatures, as well as many rather cool bio-mechanical hybrids. I found myself staring at many of the pictures for some time soaking up what they have to offer, the art coming alive with motion in my mind's eye the longer I spent being immersed in them. The influence of popular culture sci-fi, especially Star Wars, is noticeable but this doesn't impede in any way on the project's originality. At the end of the book, Deschambault provides half a dozen tutorials, insights into his process of creating some of the art pieces. Even though I'm very much a non-artist, I still found these quite interesting and especially so his explanations of what he was trying to convey in the picture in terms of a story or idea.

Reading this is a new experience for me and one which I enjoyed very much, but I can't really compare this book to anything that I've read in recent years. The closest thing that I've experienced would have to be the old 1980s Terran Trade Authority illustrated science fiction books that I enjoyed as a teenager. It was my fondness for these that convinced me to look at Project 77 in the first place. There's something very captivating about good artwork and stories that complement each other and Project 77 is a good example of this. My only [very minor] complaint is that I wish that the written stories were longer and told a more complete tale, rather than just providing a morsel of a larger story. But, these brief fragments piqued my curiosity enough to want to know more, and I'd have to say that they're very well written for the word count available. To be fair, this book is really about the art and the stories are there to support that, something that they do very well.

This is clearly only the very beginning of a much larger story journey and just a portion of the current Project 77 artwork appears in this volume. Deschambault is already hinting at volume two, which something that I'm immediately enthusiastic about. If you're into sci-fi and fantasy art or feel like you'd like to try something a little different in a sci-fi book, I can recommend Project 77 wholeheartedly.

In the meantime, check out Deschambault's incredible work at ArtStation HERE.

5/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.6 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Amazon)